Nydus Worm

The Nydus Worm is an evolution of the Zerg Nydus Canal, a subterranean organic structure that interlinked areas covered by creep. Nydus Worms live inside a nest-like structure called the Nydus Network. A Nydus Worm can travel from the Network to any nearby location before emerging, in the process creating a tunnel beneath the battlefield. This huge creature is capable of stretching itself out to prodigious lengths to support the tunnel with its own skin and ribs. Zerg warriors can enter the tunnel via either the Worm’s head or the Nydus Network, and they can travel through the Worm at great speed due to a combination of peristaltic motion and chemical stimulants that direct their movements. Nydus Worms pose a grave threat to areas previously thought to be secure.

Combat

3D Model

Basic information

Production

Producer:

Nydus Network

Hotkey:

N

Requires:

Nydus Network

Cost:

100
100

Supply:

-

Build time:

20

Combat

SPECIMEN ANALYSIS

CRUSHER FANGS

LATCHING SPIKES

CHEMICAL RECEPTORS

TISSUE REPLICATION

CREEP GLANDS

ENTRY 1/5

The very large, thick teeth located throughout the mouth of the Nydus Worm primarily serve as digging tools. Each fang is connected to a set of powerful muscles, which vibrate at hypersonic speeds in order to crush soil, rocks and everything in between. Eventually—mainly due to friction—the worm’s teeth wear down. Once a tooth becomes useless, it is ejected and a new one grows from the muscle itself in a matter of seconds.

These gigantic spikes protract from the body of the Nydus Worm when it emerges, stabilizing the creature and supporting its weight while the Swarm advances from the depths of the Nydus Network onto its target area.

Nydus Worms are specialized lifeforms that have no brains of their own; only a simple array of organs that react to peristaltic motion and chemical stimuli from the Nydus Network. This array allows the creature to navigate through difficult or rough terrain, and also helps regulate its biological functions. The Nydus Worm is merely an extension of the Nydus Network, and the latter is an extension of the Swarm itself.

To transport the Swarm’s land creatures across any battlefield or landmass, the Nydus Worm can stretch indefinitely through on-demand tissue generation. Ever-connected to the Nydus Network—a central structure that provides the required nourishment—the worm expands and replicates its cells at a simple command to cover the distance to its target. Surplus tissue is reassimilated once the worm returns to the Network.

Nydus Worms generate tons of detritus, but they dispose of them in a rather efficient way. First, the crushed rock and soil is covered with a strain of corrosive creep secreted by glands located around the creature’s large maw. Once it liquefies, the detritus trickles down into twin passages that transfer it to a specialized layer under the epidermis, improving the weight distribution of the tunnels they support with their skin and ribs.

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General Strategy

Can transport any type of ground unit.

Can transport an unlimited amount of units, but unloads one at a time.

All units within the underground network are destroyed if the Nydus Network and all Nydus Worms are destroyed.